Memorials to visit Philippines

Opposite City Hall. This famous tree was planted by Magellan on April 4, 1521, to mark the spot where the first Christian Filipinos, Rajah Humabon and Queen Juana, were baptized by Brother Pedro Valderama. Some 400 of their descendants followed in their footsteps. The cross is protected by a basilica dating from 1565, which some believe to be the first Christian church in the Philippines. All Southern jeepneys, direction Banawa, Guadalupe, Basak, Labangon, Pardo, etc., lead to the Santo Niño church and the Magellan cross.

It is a huge park of 27 hectares, the largest of all Quezon City. It forms a kind of enormous roundabout encircled by the road. In the middle of the park stands the Quezon Memorial, a 66-meter high statue erected in honor of Manuel L. Quezon, the first president of the Philippines in the period of independence under the Commonwealth in 1934. The park is very popular with Filipinos who call it the Circle and come to play sports, picnic or simply to meet and rest.

Our Lady of Peace and Good Voyage, also known as the Virgin of Antipolo is a wooden image of the Virgin Mary very famous in the Philippines. It is kept in the church of Antipolo, which every year sees thousands of pilgrims flock to admire the icon in summer. The story goes that this miraculous icon has traveled eight times between Manila and Acapulco and has saved many people by warning them of coming disasters.

This memorial was erected to commemorate the celebration of the first mass held in the Philippines in 1521. For the record, there has been a long-running debate (which resumed in 2021 to mark the 500th anniversary of the Christianization of the Philippines) as to where the first mass was held For Magallanes and Butuan, no doubt, it's here, but for Limasawa, south of Leyte, it's on its territory... In any case, in 1521, Ferdinand Magellan landed in the Philippines and celebrated the first mass on March 31, 1521.